Bridgnorth CC 1st XI v Newport (Away)
Bridgnorth 1st XI (215-4) beat Newport (214-9) by 6 wickets
Batting: D. Exall 95*, J. Whitney 71, M. MacPherson-Lees 22*, G. Mumford 13.
Bowling: M. MacPherson-Lees 3-84, T. Weaver 2-29, E. Lewis 2-42, S. Whitney 2-57.
Next Saturday's all-Shropshire table-topping encounter follows the Cricket Meadow men's six wicket victory over another Shropshire outfit, Newport, at Audley Avenue this week.
The home side batted first on winning the toss, and again their IPL star Rajat Bhatia earned his keep by top-scoring with 137 in his side's 214-9, as the visiting bowlers shared the wickets.
In reply, Bridgnorth were soon in trouble at 22-2, losing openers Andrew Carson and Matt Martin cheaply. But then a third-wicket partnership of 112 between Dave Exall and Jono Whitney changed the game. Gaz Mumford came and went in search of acceleration, but skipper Mark MacPherson-Lees joined Exall to claim maximum points to stay in touch with Whitchurch, who were making short work of Coleshill who started the day in fourth place.
Looking ahead to next weekend the Bridgnorth skipper said, "This weekend is what we set our sights on at the start of the season, to be competing and testing ourselves against good sides," before adding, "The Finals day on Sunday is a bit of fun but it's a short format of the game and its about who performs on the day. Even though, as the lowest ranked team there we will b the underdog, we have got there by beating sides placed above us in the pyramid, and have the firepower to fear no-one".
Of the top-two clash the previous day he played down claims of a title decider, saying, "There's still a lot of cricket left in the season and whilst a win for us puts us on top, this league throws up some odd results. Whitchurch are a useful outfit and we shall show them respect, but again on our day we need fear no-one".
Bridgnorth CC 2nd XI v Old Hill (Home)
Bridgnorth 2nd XI (172-8) tied with Old Hill (172-9)
Batting: A. Unitt 64, G. Edwards 26, D. Taylor 24, S. Caine 20.
Bowling: S. Pitt 2-35, A. Leather 2-65, G. Edwards 2-21, S. Caine 2-39.
Bridgnorth's 2nd XI continued their fight for survival in Division One when they entertained promotion-seeking Old Hill on Saturday, and invited the visitors to bat on winning the toss.
Two early wickets for Simon Pitt, including the dangerous Shoaib (26) set the tone for the innings, and aided by some safe hands in the field all the bowlers shared the spoils. Andy Leather, Glenn Edwards and the returning Steve Caine kept the Old Hill runs in check, as the innings ended on 172-9.
The loss of two early wickets in reply hampered the home side, but a watchful Andy Unitt and Glenn Edwards set about a repair. Dan Taylor gave the innings impetus as he played in a positive manner, before another two-wicket burst swung the game back into the visitors favour.
Some sensible batting from Unitt edged his side closer to the points, until he mis-timed a drive and was well caught in the covers with his side still 12 runs shy. Caine and Leather got the scores level before the former missed a last ball yorker, resulting in a tied game.
